Roller bearing

ABSTRACT

A roller bearing having rollers which are tubular metal cylinders. The inside of each of said metal cylinders is filled with a lubricant and small holes are bored directly through the metal cylinders. Alternatively, a plurality of metal cylinders is juxtaposed with minute spacings formed between adjacent metal cylinders, respectively. Accordingly, the lubricant is extruded outwardly from the inside of the metal cylinders through the small holes or minute spacings in accordance with the rotary movement of the roller bearing.

United States Patent [191 Sato Nov. 20, 1973 ROLLER BEARING 1,266,2865/1918 Lockwood 308/215 ,88 .i [761 Km saw, 89 Mmm m 3333613 1111322325.221. .1. 2835i Yamamoto-cho, Yao-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan PrimaryExaminerCharles J. Myhre 2 Filed; 27, 7 Assistant ExaminerFrank Susko[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 25, 1972 Japan 47/20757 [52]U.S. Cl. 308/215 [51] Int. Cl. F16e 33/66 [58] Field of Search 308/215[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 458,317 8/1891 Howyer308/215 588,667 8/1897 Tellefsen et al. 308/215 Attorney-E. F. Wenderothet al.

[57] ABSTRACT A roller bearing having rollers which are tubular metalcylinders. The inside of each of said metal cylinders is filled with alubricant and small holes are bored directly through the metalcylinders. Alternatively, a plurality of metal cylinders is juxtaposedwith minute spacings formed between adjacent meta] cylinders,respectively. Accordingly, the lubricant is extruded outwardly from theinside of the metal cylinders through the small holes or minute spacingsin accordance with the rotary movement of the roller bearing.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDnuvzo 1915 3; 773398 1- ROLLERBEARING This invention relates to a roller bearing, therollers thereofbeing tubular metal cylinders. The inside of said metal cylinders arefilled with a lubricant and extraction conduits are provided on themetal cylinders in order to extract the lubricant from the inside ofsaidmetal cylinders.-

Generally, known roller bearings havehad a great common defect inrespect to antifriction methods and the retention of lubricant as ana'ntifriction means as described below.

a. When the roller bearing issubjected to impact'friction, the bearingcan hardlyabsorb" said impact because of the absence of shock absorbingspaee'the'reinz' b". Violent slidingfrictionarises between the rollerretainer and the side of the roller and abrasion'scaused by such slidingfrictiongreatly shortening the life of the bearing.

c. There is.not enoughspace inside the'bearing to remin lubricant withthe result that, even if lubricant is supplied in large quantities, thegreater partthereofis pushed out of the rollersby the rotary movement ofsaid rollers. Consequently, the lubricant must be replenished frequentlyinsmall: quantities; otherwise trouble will arise from'theabrasion'caus'ed by, asho rtage of lubricant.

A first objecrof this invention: is'toobvi'ate-the'constructionalzdefectsof the knownzrollerj bearings byre-' placing the rollers with tubular metal? cylinders; sufficient spacebeing provided inside said metal cylinders thereby enabling themtoabsorb the impact from impact friction:

A second 'object of this'invention is'to prolong the life of the rollerbearings-by empl'oying tubular metalfcylinders for the rollers-therebyminimi'zin'g the' slidirig friction atthe side of' the rollers.

A thirdobject-orthisinventiomis-to'make it un'necessary to frequentlyreplenish'th'e lubricant by replacing the rollers-with tubular: metalcyjinde'rs which can be filled' with lubricant inlarge'quantities.

This invention is directed: to a roller bearing having rollers which-aretubular metal=cylind'ers; 'l heinside of said metal cylinders are filledwith alubricant andsmall holes are bored directly through the metal'cylind'ersor a plurality of metal cylindersarejuxtaposed with minutespacings formed between the extremities of said metal-cylindersrespectively so thatthe lubricant from the insidethereof canextrudeoutwardly. with'the'rm tary movement of' the roller bearing.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the roller'bearing according: tothisinvention', apart of'which'isshowninsection;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of'theprincipalpart'of the roller portiondetached fromtheouter race.

FIGS. 3" to 5 show' other" embodiments'of'the roller bearing. eachshowing'asectional side view'oftheprincipal-part'thereofQ Referring-nowto FIG; '1", (A) d'esignates'aroller-bearing; an outer: race"! being;fitted' around the outer periphery of an inner racel with-a suitablespacing-sprovided therebetween, rollers? 3* beinydi'sposedbetween theinner race land-the outer race Z' thmugh' a retainer 4" forretaining'said rollers 3'1 The construction described-hereinbeforeisidenticah with that'of 'known'roller bearings.-

Thisinvention is? characterized in I that therollers 3 are tubularmetal? cylinders -7 consisting-f of 'an alloy of i "nickel and chromehavin'g antia'bra'sioii properties; The

inside of the metal cylinders 7 are filled with lubricant (B) andconduitsS- are provided on themet'al cylinders 7 to allow the lubricant(B) to extrude outwardly from the inside ofthe metal cylinders 7:

The roller 3-shownin'F IG. l is'a metal'cylinder consisting of an:a'lloy-of'n'ickel and'chrome having antiabrasion properties. The insideo f said roller 3 is filled with a lubricant and small holes-8penetrating through the peripheral wall'of the metal cylinder 7 serveasthe conduits 5 so as to enable thelubr'icant (B) to flow outwardlyfrom the inside of th'e metal cylinder 7.

The roller shown in FlG.3 is alsoa metal cylinder 7 consisting of analloy of nickel and chrome having antiabrasion properties. However, saidmetal cylinder 7 is a double cylinder, a smaller diameter metal cylinder9 being tightly fitted into a larger diameter metal cylinder 7 so thatan integral double cylindrical wall is formed.

If the cylindrical wall is reinforced as described hereinbefore byintegrally duplicating said wall bytightly fitting a'metal cylinder 9into a metal cylinder 7, the resultant duplex cylindrical wall hasgreater resistance to impact even when the roller bearing (A) issubjected to violent loaded impact friction.

Also in the case of the roller 3 in FIG. 3 which comprises a metalcylinder 9 and'a metal cylinder 7 tightly fitted to each other 'so as toform a duplex metal cylinder, it goes without saying that small holes 8are bored through the peripheral wall of each said metal cylinders 7 and9, extraction conduits thus being formed en abling the lubricant (B) toflow from the inside of the cylinder through said small holes 8.

p The roller 3 shownin FIG. 4 is also a metal cylinder 7 consisting ofan 'alloy of nickel and chrome having small holes penetrating throughthe peripheral wall of the metal'cylinder 7 so that the lubricant (B)can be extracted from the inside of said metal cylinder 7. In thisembodiment, however, a plurality of balls 6 are inserted into the metalcylinder 7. This roller bearing is useful in locations which aresubjected'to great impact friction arising from high speed rotation orviolent static friction arising at the time of starting or braking.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 is different from each of theembodiments described hereinbefore in that two metal cylinders 7 whichare juxtaposed have no small holes penetrating through the peripheralwall" thereof.

When the two metal cylinders 7 are juxtaposed as shown in FIG. 5, thelubricant (B) is extracted from the inside of said metal cylinders 7through a minute spacingv l0 formed'between the opposed extremities ofthe juxtaposedmetal cylinders 7. in this case, the minute spacing 10between the metal cylinders 7 forms an extraction conduit 5 for thelubricant (B).

As described hereinbefore, the roller bearing (A) of i this inventionhas metal cylinders 7 in place of the conventional rollers, the insideof said cylinders 7 being filled with a lubricant (B), said'lubricant(B) being extracted from the inside of said metal cylinders 7 throughsmall holes 8'bored through the peripheral walls thereof or through aminute spacing 10 formed betweeneach pair of'juxtap'osed metal cylinders7.

By-extracting the lubricant (B) from the inside of the metalcylinders7consecutively, the rolling friction of the metal cylinders 7 againstthe inner race 1 andthe' outer race 2 can be reduced. This reduction ofthe rolling friction has been realized-for the first time by theconstruction of this invention wherein the rollers 3 are replaced bymetal cylinders which are filled with a lubricant (B) and provided withextrusion conduits 5 for said lubricant.

Moreover, since the rollers 3 are replaced by metal cylinders, thecontact area between the rollers and the side of the retainer thereof isremarkably reduced with the result that the sliding frictional lossarising from the rotary movement of the rollers is also remarkablyreduced.

In particular, since the inside of the rollers which are metal cylindersis filled with a lubricant, said lubricant is retained in largequantities in the lateral spaces of the rollers where sliding frictionarises; thus the rotary movement thereof minimizes the loss resultingfrom heavy sliding friction.

Furthermore, the rollers consisting of metal cylinders can be filledwith an abundance of lubricant without the risk of said lubricant beingpushed out by the movement of the rollerslln addition thereto, thelubricant is retainable for a long period of time without frequentreplenishment a necessary quantity of said lubricant being consecutivelysupplied to the peripheral walls of the rollers in accordance with therotary movement thereof through small holes bored through the peripheral-walls"of said mtzil' cylindersbr" through minute spacings formedbetween juxtaposed metal cylinders.

What is claimed is:

l. A roller bearing comprising an inner race, aiiouter race, and aplurality of tubular r'o ll ers rotatable between said inner'and saidoute r'rac jes, each of said tubular rollers having a plurality ofpenetration holes on the peripheral surface thereof, and a plurality ofballs and a lubricant contained within each of said rollers.

2. A roller bearing as claimed in claim 1 wherein the diameter ofsaid'balls is substantially equal to the inner diameter of said tubularrollers.

3. A roller bearing as claimed in claim 1 further comprising means forretaining said balls within each of said rollers.

1. A roller bearing comprising an inner race, an outer race, and aplurality of tubular rollers rotatable between said inner and said outerraces, each of said tubular rollers having a plurality of penetrationholes on the peripheral surface thereof, and a plurality of balls and alubricant contained within each of said rollers.
 2. A roller bearing asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the diameter of said balls is substantiallyequal to the inner diameter of said tubular rollers.
 3. A roller bearingas claimed in claim 1 further comprising means for retaining said ballswithin each of said rollers.